“I’ll say,” Ann replied.
Jerry closed the door and led Ann to the last room. “This is my study, you might say,”
The room was every bit as large as the master bedroom and looked like it could be the control room for NASA, with numerous computers and peripherals arranged in clusters on the long counters running along the length of the walls. At the far end, against the window, sat another counter with what appeared to be a ham radio along with a vast array of sophisticated looking diagnostic equipment.
“Good God, Jerry! What is all of this?” Ann asked.
“Toys,” Jerry replied simply. “Just a bunch of toys that I like to tinker around with.”
Ann stood over to one of the computers and looked it over. Although she wasn’t very familiar with computer hardware, she could tell that this was serious, ultra-expensive equipment.
“What on earth do you use all of this for?”
Jerry came over and stood beside her. “I like to keep in touch with what’s going on in the world. It’s almost like having the entire world at your fingertips.”
“That’s pretty apparent. But why in a country retreat?”
He looked at her peculiarly. “Why not?”
Ann suddenly felt stupid for asking the question and smiled nervously. “Well, I’m certainly impressed. I didn’t realize you had so many hobbies, Jerry. I’m surprised you find the time to sell real estate!”
He said quickly, “It’s not as though I’m here that often, but it’s nice to come here whenever I can and get away from it all. Isn’t that what getting away is all about? Relax and do the things you most enjoy doing?”
He had a point and she had to agree. But she also wondered what was left to furnish his home in Dublin. Jerry Rankin’s “retreat” looked more like permanent residence than a place to just drop in from time to time.
When they returned to the hall, Jerry walked over to the staircase and pointed up to where it dead-ended into a hatch-like door set into the ceiling.
“My studio loft is up there. I’m in the process of renovating itI’m afraid I’ll have to show it to you some other time.”
“That’s a shame,” Ann said. “I’d love to see it.”
“Perhaps next time,” he said flatly before descending the stairs.
Ann glanced upward and wondered what renovations Jerry could possibly be doing to his studio that would prevent her from at least getting quick peek at it. Perhaps he was just sensitive of her seeing his paintings in progress? Possibly…
She began descending the stairs and was half way down when she realized to her horror that Jerry was standing at the bottom staring straight up her skirt! Her faced turned red and Jerry quickly turned away and began making his way to the kitchen. The incident made Ann very nervous and she wondered if he had been staring at her on purpose or if he’d done it inadvertently. Something told her that the former was the case but she hoped that she was wrong. Surely, she decided, Jerry wouldn’t purposely do something that childish When she joined him in the kitchen, Jerry smiled and said, “How about a little stroll through the grounds-if you’re not too tired, that is.”
Ann thought about it a moment. “Sure, why not?”
“Wonderful! And when we get back, I’ll prepare us some dinner. Do you by any chance like lobster?”
“Love it!” Ann said.
“I’m glad to hear that because I picked up a pair of fresh ones at the market yesterday along with a bottle of dry white wine. I toss a pretty mean salad, too.”
“Sounds scrumptious.”
Ann followed Jerry out the front door and zipped up her jacket when the chilly air greeted her. They began walking down the road toward the pond and by time they had reached it, Jerry had taken hold of her hand.
For the next half hour or so they sauntered leisurely around the grounds talking and taking in the quiet beauty of the autumn foliage. Jerry did most of the talking, telling Ann how much he loved it in the country and how he could just pack everything in and stay there forever. Ann could almost sense by his subtle hints that he was trying to sell her on the place, as if he wouldn’t mind it if she could someday join him and live happily ever after here in the middle of nowhere. She remained politely aloof, flattered by his little innuendoes and wondering at the same time how he could so easily forget that his wife had only recently passed away and how he could already be so fervent to start all over again with someone else.
By the time they headed back to this house, Ann found herself puzzled and a little taken aback by Jerry’s gradual change in demeanor. In the span of just thirty minutes, he had somehow become less a casual acquaintance and more like a man with a mission-a suitor trying to win her heart.
She wasn’t sure how to respond to all of this and she sensed that at some point Jerry Rankin was going to put her in a compromising position. He seemed to have suddenly forgotten their prior agreement-that she had no intentions of establishing a romantic relationship with him and that they were only seeing each other on a no-strings basis. Admittedly, she had come to like Jerry Rankin a great deal as a person and no doubt felt physically attracted to his suave good looks. But she didn’t love him and knew in the back of her mind that she never would. Jerry Rankin was simply a pleasant diversion from her otherwise unsettled life since breaking up with Sam, she now acknowledged, and she wondered how on earth she had let things go this far. How had she let herself go against her better judgment and encourage Jerry as she had?
Karen Whaley. She was one of the reasons. Karen had been Ms. Encouragement from day one, coercing her to get on with her life and have some fun. “Don’t let him slip through your fingers,” she had told her in her typical know-it-all tone of voice.
And then there was Shelley Hatcher. Wasn’t that really why she’d started going out with Jerry on a regular basis? Because Sam had started fooling around with Shelley again and she wanted to somehow get back at her ex-husband?
Just as they approached the house, another thought occurred to Ann: the romance novel that she had been reading. This was yet another reason why she had gone so far with this. She had let a silly romance story transform her into some kind of giddy schoolgirl! She quickly glanced down at her white mini skirt and funky Reeboks. Appropriate attire for a forty-year-old woman? Come on, Ann! She wanted to laugh out loud as she realized that she had not only let her waning youth get the best of her but she had been in a sense living vicariously thorough the heroine of that stupid romance novel all this time. Middle aged woman gets married, gives birth to child, gets divorced, moves away with child, meets tall, handsome stranger, has her doubts about “love on the rebound” but nevertheless gives it a shot, and eventually allows stranger to seduce her to his country retreat…
Jerry suddenly gave her hand a squeeze as they approached the porch. “Feeling hungry?” he asked.
“Famished,” she heard herself reply with a forced smile.
Ann felt a pang of guilt as they walked up to the door. Jerry was probably the most considerate man she had ever met and the last thing she wanted to do was to hurt him. He had done more for her in the relatively short period of time she had know him than she cared to admit to herself. Not only had he made her feel like a whole person again, but he had been there for her when she needed a man around the house and a shoulder to cry on. Plus he had helped to get her mind off of Marsha, if only for a little while at a time.
As Ann recalled her lifelong friend she felt a wave of sadness sweep throughout her entire body. She suddenly realized that Jerry had in a sense helped to fill that void left after Marsha’s death by merely entering her life and giving her something optimistic to look forward to. And, as selfish as it seemed, she’d found herself feeling much better after having learned that he too had recently lost a loved one-his wife. This discovery had all of a sudden made her feel less alone in the world and no doubt had helped establish a sort of common denominator between herself and Jerry.